2014 or never

[keniget]

I think this was the best chance to win the league. Hopefully it won't be our last but I do think we will rue missing out on the title this season.

I feel the same way. Who knows when another opportunity like this will come along.

Also agree with what FFF said - I'd probably take top 4 next season without even considering a title challenge given the stakes and level of the competition. If the financial gap gets any bigger we'll be left behind for good.

 

[Best Believe It]

There were a unique set of circumstances this season in our favour; Ferguson gone, Pellegrini new to the PL, Mourinho not yet built his side exactly as he wants after only one summer back in charge, and no CL for us. For that reason the unheard-of move from 7th to almost champions, despite being a remarkable achievement in itself, was very likely 'easier' than under normal circumstances, hence it being unheard-of.

On those grounds, for this season only, I'd say it'll be a harder task to recruit all the quality we need in one summer to put ourselves on a par with our main rivals for squad depth than it was to do what Rodgers has done this season.

We have 81 points this year, more than second place got last year. Considering our points total is based largely on how we've played teams that are not Chelsea or Man City, I'd say that their form has been irrelevant to how we've done. If we were top with 65 points then yeah, you'd have an argument to say that the other team's implosion has affected our chances of getting into the position we're in, but considering the top four last year had points of 89, 78, 75 and 73, and this year have points of 81, 80, 79 and 76, I'd say that it's been harder this year to be where we are than it would have been with the same results last year.

We've made the leap from 7th to top four despite needing a greater points total to do so this season than we would have done the season before, so by definition it's been harder. Add to that the fact we've had to recruit players despite being out of the European Cup and without the spending power of Man City and Chelsea.

It will be hard to recruit the quality as it is every summer unless you're PSG or Man City, but that doesn't mean it isn't possible. We've done it this season, and we're starting from a much improved base for next.

 

[FoxForceFive]

I feel the same way. Who knows when another opportunity like this will come along.

Also agree with what FFF said - I'd probably take top 4 next season without even considering a title challenge given the stakes and level of the competition. If the financial gap gets any bigger we'll be left behind for good.

I don't sat I'll take top 4 simply cos I think that's all we can get, I do believe we could be up there again, but it's an unknown quantity, as I doubt we'll be out of all cups so early. With that in mind & the money involved meaning it could be years before we can compete at least partially with the big clubs I think top 4 wouldn't be a disaster by any means.

 

[Hansern]

The CL money is crazy from the 2015 season and its massively important to qualify again.

Top 3 or 4 should be the target next year but I'll be disapointed if we dont challenge for the league.
CL is 6 more games before Christmas. Meaning we'll play an even more youthful/back up sides in the league cup etc.
The owners will back Rodgers and we need to get the signings right. But this team should be able to compete next season when we adress our weak links. The team should be even better.

 

[Leo]

Everyone said that Atletico would fall away after they over achieved last season but they got stronger even after losing Falcoa.
Our squad cost us the league.
It's basically impossible to win the league with 13 first team players.
3 or 4 good signings and we could easily steam roll the league next season under a brilliant young manager who's learning all the time.
I can't say I've been this proud of a team in 25 years.
They gave it everything and last night was heartbreaking but we'll come back stronger for it.

 

[Fabio]

We dont have a chance next year.

Last summer will happen again. We'll try to get the big targets, but get gazumped, so we'll settle for lesser lights who just don't do enough

 

[Gerry_A_Trick]

Last year we needed a perfect summer to challenge for the top four. We didn't have one, we had a pretty average one, but we over achieved this year.Mainly down to previous signings stepping up a level, and a bit of luck.

I don't think we'll end up that lucky this year, Sakho and Mignolet are the only ones we signed last summer that could step up, but we need more than that.We need a perfect summer this year to challenge for the title, and an average one should be good enough to keep us in the CL. If we get one gem in the summer, and one of the youngsters steps up too, we'll be fine.

I just don't expect another title challenge without us signing at least two gems.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

We dont have a chance next year.

Last summer will happen again. We'll try to get the big targets, but get gazumped, so we'll settle for lesser lights who just don't do enough

No Fabio - don't do this to yourself. You're an optimistic sob.

 

[mom]

We dont have a chance next year.

Last summer will happen again. We'll try to get the big targets, but get gazumped, so we'll settle for lesser lights who just don't do enough

Nah we can offer champs league, attacking football and we nearly won the league. We can attract top players more easily.

 

[Gerry_A_Trick]

Nah we can offer champs league, attacking football and we nearly won the league. We can attract top players more easily.

Depends on the player. We struggled before as we didn't have the CL, we could struggle this year as we may not be paying the wages of other teams.

We won't have it easy this summer, I just hope we do our business early.

 

[FoxForceFive]

Ah but not being able to offer top wages yet a possible challenge, attacking footy, good chance at a first team place & cl footy is a great combination, pretty much rules out greedy mercenary bastards & helps get hungry talented players who want to win shit.

Its all good imo, your long term prospects are better without paying silly wages to attract players imo.

 

[Gerry_A_Trick]

Ah but not being able to offer top wages yet a possible challenge, attacking footy, good chance at a first team place & cl footy is a great combination, pretty much rules out greedy mercenary bastards & helps get hungry talented players who want to win shit.

Its all good imo, your long term prospects are better without paying silly wages to attract players imo.

In theory, maybe. But it won't be very easy for us when the likes of City can offer pretty much the same thing, except twice the wages. We'll be taking a lot more chances, and can't afford to mess up. Where as Chelsea and City can mess up all they want, as they can always throw more money at it.

 

[FoxForceFive]

In theory, maybe. But it won't be very easy for us when the likes of City can offer pretty much the same thing, except twice the wages. We'll be taking a lot more chances, and can't afford to mess up. Where as Chelsea and City can mess up all they want, as they can always throw more money at it.

Except they won't be offering anything like a real shot at the first team to anyone but the very very very best, who we won't go for due to a number of reasons, we'll be after top quality but not superstars, & that's good imo, whereas they will be after superstars in the main, & the likes of, for example lallana, wouldn't be anywhere near as likely to get games there as he would here.

 

[Hansern]

I think we'll get our main targets this season. Who wouldnt want to play for Liverpool or with Suarez etc?

I'd rather we continued to sign the same type of youngish players that we have but also a couple of short term older experienced players.

I'm having an argument with some Utd fans today as they obviously are loving watching us miss out. But also suggesting Utd will be back in full force next season while we will struggle.
I'm trying to get them to understand that they need 7-8 new players and a total rebuilding job of their squad and who knows what state they'll be in when the season kicks off. No CL will affect them and they wont get any top players without spending a fortune on wages etc.
Lets just say they dont agree.

 

[Judge Jules]

Deep down they know you're right - they just don't want to face up to it. The truth is they're in a far dodgier position than we are because, for the reasons you set out, they're going to have spend a lot more than we will to keep up, with no guarantee (a) that the Glazers will actually fork the money over, or (b) that it'll work even if they do.

 

[tombrown]

I said somewhere else that there is (or at least used to be) a perception that you have to come close to winning it first, to get the experience, and then be better equipped with that experience to withstand the pressure the next time round. Think Utd getting pipped by Leeds then winning it the next year, Blackburn chasing Utd all the way but just falling short the year before they won it etc.

The youth in our squad and the experience gained this year, plus the fact that the priority area for improvement (defence) is fairly obvious, will all be in our favour next time around.

Oh, and we will still win it this season 🙂

 

[Richey]

Rodgers has played his hand very very well this season, both in terms of squad/getting the best out of players, and situation/not being in Europe.

It's obviously easy to assume that things will be more difficult next year, and I am sure they will be, but there's no reason to think that we won't deal with that situation and those demands just as well.

We will certainly need new players, so the summer is crucial. What concerns me ever so slightly is that the last two times we have come second, we have followed it up with horrible summer transfer windows where, rather than improving on a good side, we have ended up going backwards.

 

[jexykrodic]

I think the owners will play a crucial role in the development of the club, not just for finances but in selling the club to players and their agents.

They've made great strides in a short space of time and seem clear in their plans and objectives. Liverpool is the place to be for the ambitious. Rodgers,also, seems at ease with developing a bond between him and the players and with the media.

There'll be plenty of players who will count in Liverpool among the current elite as a possible destination I'd speculate.

 

[Judge Jules]

Agree with both the last two posts, including Richey's note of caution about what's happened when we've come second more recently. However, I think we're much better set up on and off the field to deal with the situation now. For one thing we have massively more clued-up and businesslike owners. For another, we have a manager who admittedly is still learning but, by the same token, is capable of doing so in a way which Rafa and GH before him - for all their other qualities - were not. We've a long road ahead of us still, but I like the way we're starting out.

 

[localny]

It's a great year. We did well, and as long as Houllier and Rafa aren't buying to push us on, we should do well.

Who knows about next year. All you can say is it looks very very positive. There's no doubt there will be regression, as life is two steps forward and three steps back some times. So when the press tries to do an AVB to BR next season, and they will, keep the faith.

All I can tell you is that I will be skipping into work on Tues/Wednes or a while, and the TV will be on in the office.

 

[Tal]

Oh shut up with your cheeriness, some of us are still doing the stages of grief here...😉

 

[dmishra]

When you look at the drop in the gap between the 1st and 4th place spots over the last 3 years, you realise how difficult it is to sustain a title challenge.

The difference between 1st and 4th is currently 5 points
Last year it was 16 points.
The year before it was 20 points.

More and more it seems that all it needs is a run of 3-4 bad games to put you out of the title race.

It feels a bit like we're deluding ourselves if we don't think that it was as good an opportunity as we'll ever have to win the title.

I also think a lot of the points Ross and studsup have made are valid - teams understand our high-pressing counter-attacking game better now, we'll have a lot more games to contend with, and in what will be a huge test for Rodgers, he will have several new players to integrate.

There is also the issue of finding the right blend of football stylistically, in order to be successful in both the league and Europe. I don't think the way we play currently would yield much dividend against top European teams.

Next year will be tough - after a season where we've come to the brink of winning the title, it will be hard to see a season, say where we finish 4th and lose in the quarters of the CL.

Progress from 5 years ago certainly, but it might almost feel like we're Arsenal.

As you can tell, I'm pretty depressed right about now.

 

[Judge Jules]

A lot of good points there, but I'd have to disagree about "as good an opportunity as we'll ever have". We simply do not know that. It *was* a good opportunity - which BTW isn't over just yet - but there will be others, and I fully expect us to improve our ability to capitalise on them as time goes by.

 

[Tal]

Frankly, right now, I think I'd take a guaranteed top four place ahead of any real challenge for a trophy next season. Sad and defeatist, maybe, but it would mean probably Arsenal or Utd missing out and that might trigger some longer term upheaval at two clubs who've been so stable for so long.

 

[localny]

I'm sorry Tal, I couldn't hear you, I was busy dancing with My missus to the CL tune..🙂

 

[Buddha]

I'm not concerned about next year yet. I'm still working on getting time off work to come up to Liverpool to celebrate next week.

Just in case.

 

[Judge Jules]

Frankly, right now, I think I'd take a guaranteed top four place ahead of any real challenge for a trophy next season. Sad and defeatist, maybe, but it would mean probably Arsenal or Utd missing out and that might trigger some longer term upheaval at two clubs who've been so stable for so long.

Earlier in the season I'd have agreed, but not now after we've got so close to the big one this time. ManUre have got that upheaval coming anyway, and if they appoint van Gaal it'll increase further.

 

[Modo]

We dont have a chance next year.

Last summer will happen again. We'll try to get the big targets, but get gazumped, so we'll settle for lesser lights who just don't do enough

thats the spirit.

Personally I think we'll be even better next season. I don't think we've peaked yet.
Just wait til Konoplyanka signs.

 

[peterhague]

It's basically wrong to say this is our big chance.

I might agree that this year was better than next year might be, because there'll be major changes to the squad and CL football to readjust to, but beyond that, and providing we stay in the top 4, our chances will be better, simply because teams like City and Chelsea 1) are unstable with capricious owners and 2) have so little margin for improvement to already excellent squads compared to what we can do.

 

[Tal]

Earlier in the season I'd have agreed, but not now after we've got so close to the big one this time. ManUre have got that upheaval coming anyway, and if they appoint van Gaal it'll increase further.

I think that our mid-term goal, by which I mean the next 2-3 years, has to be to replace Arsenal in the top four. We can hope it's Utd, but that would be a big surprise given their resources and world-wide appeal, an appeal which must sometimes influence who signs for them far more than it does for Arsenal, a club that lack that global presence. That would then see two of the richest plaything clubs in the world and two of the biggest and most famous clubs in the world firmly established at the top of the English game. We could then build on that as the Anfield capacity increases.